Ulster Bank head apologises in letter to customers

Ulster Bank CEO Jim Brown has said he is aware that the current situation at the bank is "unacceptable".

CEO Jim Brown made the statement in a letter to customers this afternoon.

"I had hoped to write to you today telling you that payments on Ulster Bank customer accounts are up to date and back to normal," Mr Brown wrote.

"I'm sorry to let you know that, while our efforts in processing payments over the weekend have shown good progress in clearing the backlog, it has been at a slower pace than we had wanted.

"This means that, although customers will now see some updated balances, many will still be experiencing issues with delayed payments.

"I know that that this situation is simply unacceptable."

The letter follows revelations that problems caused by a technical glitch at parent company Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) caused an error in the automated batch processing of payments on the night of Tuesday 19 June.

It has also been revealed that backlogs of payments at NatWest and RBS were prioritised over Ulster Bank.

Ulster Bank said it is making steady inroads to ongoing delays in its payments system, but the pace is slower than was expected.

"Although the initial problem was rectified promptly, we were faced with a processing backlog which had to be cleared before we could begin to return the systems to normal," the bank said.

"The pace of progress is improving though of course has been slower than we or our customers would have liked.

"We are grateful to our customers for their patience while we work hard to restore a normal service level."

The bank said it hoped that customers should see their balances updating during the coming week.

"However, normal service will take some further time as our experience from dealing with the same issues in the UK suggests that there may be bumps along the road," it added.

"We will do everything we can to manage the continued inconvenience this may cause to our customers."

However Dermot Jewell, CEO of the Consumers Association of Ireland said customers should be compensated in some way.

"There are basic requirements for providing a service - and if you fail in this service then an element of refund is applicable," Mr Jewell said.

"It may be necessary for the bank to tell these customers (that) for the foreseeable future, we will be postponing any introduction of bank charges to you or any of our customers who have been affected here."